U.S. rates, strong economies boost European currencies

Published: 9 January 2006 y., Monday

Central European currencies have reached levels close to all-time records against the euro in recent days, boosted by strong economic performance and a rush by international investors to the region.

On Thursday morning, the Polish zloty was trading at just under 3.80 to the euro, its strongest rate since 2002.

By Friday, the zloty had eased off slightly and stood at around 3.81 to the euro.

The Czech koruna closed Friday at 28.90 to the euro, near its record.

Slovak markets were closed Friday because of a Roman Catholic religious holiday, but the koruna ended the day's trading on Thursday at 37.65, also near its record.

Analysts attribute the rise in the currencies to central Europe's strong economies and to investors ditching the dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at the beginning of the year that transatlantic interest rates were as high as they were going to go for a while.

Experts have predicted GDP growth of 4.3 percent, inflation at 1.5 percent and a 3.2-percent budget deficit in Poland in 2006.

The Warsaw stock exchange climbed to new highs in the first week of 2006, with blue chips showing gains of 5.6 percent.

Polish interest rates are higher than in eurozone countries, and investors are fighting to get their hands on Polish bonds.

Šaltinis: AFP
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Focus on Energy and Finance in the Meeting of Nordic and Baltic Prime Ministers

In Brussels, Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas participated in the meeting of Nordic and Baltic (NB6) Prime Ministers which focused on the pressing topics on the agenda of the European Council: global finance crisis, energy, climate change, EU-Russia relations, and financial situation in Iceland. more »

The European Commission Will Develop an Electricity Grid Interconnection Plan between the Baltic States

Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas attended the working dinner with President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Polish Prime Ministers – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Andrus Ansip, Matti Vanhanen, Ivars Godmanis, Donald Tusk – and Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt. more »

Commission sets out proposal to increase minimum protection for bank deposits to €100,000

The European Commission has put forward a revision of EU rules on deposit guarantee schemes that puts into action the commitments made by EU Finance Ministers on 7 October. more »

Bush vows action for econ crisis

The United States began releasing long-awaited details of its $700 billion rescue plan. more »

Australia guarantees deposits

Australia's Prime Minister announces plans for the government to guarantee bank deposits for the next three years. more »

Savers move to ethical banking?

Ethical bank, Triodos, says it is offering customers an alternative way to invest their funds. more »

G. Kirkilas: Latvia Supports Lithuanian Energy Security Initiatives

Energy security was the dominant theme during the meeting between Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas and Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis. more »

Opening up energy markets

The draft law would require utilities to separate – or unbundle – the distribution of electricity and gas from production. more »

MEPs advocate a holistic approach to eradicating poverty and a target minimum wage for all Member States

A holistic approach to eradicating poverty, which seeks to ensure adequate incomes, quality jobs and better access to social services, is advocated by the EP in an own-initiative report. more »

Property show defies credit crunch

Dubai showcases multi-billion dollar development projects at the annual Cityscape exhibition. more »